U.S.|Clampdown on University of Michigan Fraternities After Reports of Sexual Misconduct and Alcohol Abuse

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Clampdown on University of Michigan Fraternities After Reports of Sexual Misconduct and Alcohol Abuse

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Students on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor, Mich., in 2015. Most fraternity social activities were suspended this week following reports of alcohol-related hospitalizations and sexual misconduct.CreditCreditLaura McDermott for The New York Times

Parties and pledging activities at most of University of Michigan’s fraternities have been suspended, the university said on Friday, the latest in a wave of efforts across the country to tamp down on fraternity excesses leading to sexual misconduct, alcohol and drug abuse and deaths.

The student-run Interfraternity Council, which oversees 27 fraternity chapters at the flagship state university, has decreed that social events, like mixers and parties, as well as pledging activities, would be stopped indefinitely.

The student newspaper, The Michigan Daily, which first reported the suspension, said that at a meeting of the council on Thursday, council leaders said they were concerned about recent events including: more than 30 hospital transports during the weekend of the Michigan-Michigan State football game; a “Champagne and Shackles” event, in which dates at a party were handcuffed to each other until they finished a bottle of champagne; allegations of drugging of fraternity members, hazing in which pledges were put in near-death situations, and sexual misconduct cases involving fraternity brothers.

The action was taken out of concern for “the health and safety of our members,” Alec Mayhan, executive vice president of the Interfraternity Council, said in a statement provided by the university. “We believe that social events are a privilege, and we, as a community, have not earned this privilege at this time.”

The suspension at Michigan came three days after Florida State University indefinitely suspended all activities at its fraternities and sororities after the death of a pledge, possibly due to alcohol abuse, and the arrest of a fraternity member on drug charges.

Penn State University halted fraternity and sorority parties with alcohol for part of last school year after the death of a 19-year-old student in February. And Louisiana State University stopped all Greek life activities for a week in September after the death of a fraternity pledge.

The decision at Michigan, coming from student leaders and not the school itself, seemed to be an effort to show that fraternities were sensitive to criticism that they have become the primary enablers of a party culture that leads to alcohol abuse and sexual assault, and to show that they could take steps to reform themselves short of having universities shut them down.

Michigan’s president, Mark Schlissel, has been sharply critical of fraternity culture, saying in 2015 that though he did not aspire to get rid of fraternities, if they did not shape up, they “may naturally wither and people may want to stop joining them.”

But a university spokesman, Rick Fitzgerald, said the administration had not pressured the student group into taking the action.

The move was already being felt on Friday afternoon. Instead of scenes of fraternity brothers drinking and playing games on their lawns and porches, the only visible activity was found in the yard outside Theta Delta Chi, where students were selling doughnuts and apple cider to raise money for the Breast Cancer Research Fund.

The suspension was a major topic of conversation at the food court in the basement of the student union, where three different groups of young men were overheard complaining about the cancellation of parties this weekend, though they declined to speak with a reporter.

Henry Flynn, a 19-year-old sophomore, said he rushed a few fraternities last winter before deciding against pledging after his roommate was taken to the hospital with alcohol poisoning after a Greek event. Mr. Flynn recalled one activity where potential pledges moved from room to room participating in different drinking games, and another in which they were tested on how they answered women’s invasive questions about their sexual histories.

While fraternities often speak publicly about their charitable work, Mr. Flynn heard little about that during rush. “The focus was how you fit into this community based on how much you party,” he said. “That was the vibe I got.”

Another sophomore, Tiffany Liu, recalled a friend being hit on by a fraternity pledge who said that part of his hazing required him to have intercourse with a woman. Fraternities were “the main source of propagating hookup culture,” Ms. Liu said. “That’s what their parties are about.”

Mr. Fitzgerald, the spokesman for the university, which has 29,000 undergraduates, said that school authorities and the local police were looking into all of the misconduct complaints.

Mr. Fitzgerald said sororities at Michigan do not normally host parties at their houses, so they would not be affected by the suspension. And the decree affects only fraternities that fall under the purview of the Interfraternity Council, leaving the four predominantly African-American fraternities that are part of the National Pan-Hellenic Council free to continue hosting social events.

Still, Kendall Smith, the president of one of those four fraternities, Kappa Alpha Psi, said the controversy was bad for them, too.

“Obviously, women being sexually assaulted, people overdosing on drugs, hospitalizations, that’s a bad look for the university in general and it’s not a good representative of what we stand for,” said Mr. Smith, a senior.

He expected the black fraternities would be under a microscope now, since any party they throw will draw more students. And the biggest football game of the year, against Ohio State, was coming up in two weeks, he noted.

Mr. Fitzgerald said he expected the suspension to continue at least through the fall semester, while fraternity council leaders met with individual groups to see “where they stand as far as being able to meet the expectations.”

Supporters of fraternities and sororities frequently note their role in providing social, academic, and after graduation, professional support to their members. And Mr. Fitzgerald said the administration was not planning to ban fraternities altogether. “The Greek life community has a long history and is doing a lot of good on our campus,” he said. “About 20 percent of our student body is involved in Greek life, so it’s an important part of the student experience here.”

Indeed, before every football game, fraternities are always the most popular places to go, said Zane Harding, 19.

“They’re just packed every time,” he said. Still, he agreed that some of their behavior had gotten out of hand. “There are a lot of things wrong with this,” he said.

Steve Friess reported from Ann Arbor, Mich.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A12 of the New York edition with the headline: At Michigan, Fraternities Put Safety Above Partying. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe